Loneliness, a threat to health at the height of obesity
We are in a society where the barriers to socialization have practically disappeared. Internet and mobile devices allow people to contact relatives and friends at any time, even if they live on the other side of the world. But, interestingly, the loneliness It has become one of the most serious problems today.
In fact, the loneliness Today, it has become a major threat to the health of people to rise to other problems such as obesity. This is indicated by a study of American Psychological Association in his study: "Only that I could die", where the problems that many people have to face day after day are put on the table: the lack of company.
Reduction of premature mortality
The researchers of this study they took into account data from 200 investigations and 300,000 individuals in the United States, Europe, Asia and Australia. It took into account the social relationships of these people and the chances of premature death in them, or the development of health problems.
The results showed that loneliness can represent a greater threat to the health of people than other serious problems such as obesity. Those individuals with the highest level of relationships had a 50% reduction in premature death.
For this reason it is encouraged to resume contact with groups at risk of suffering this loneliness, as for example the elderly. Families often forget their grandparents, who with a regular call and a periodic visit will benefit from their company. relatives preventing the problems that arise from the lack of company.
Loneliness and Alzheimer
This is not the first time that an investigation highlights the problem of loneliness for health. A study by the Alzheimer's Research and Treatment Center at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, which has found a link between this disease and a protein associated with this disease and that is very present in people who feel forgotten.
The researchers tried to find out how loneliness favors the appearance of amyloid, protein associated with Alzheimer's disease. As indicated by those responsible for this study, patients who have high levels of this component have a 7.5% more chance of developing this disease in the future. At this point the team wanted to discover to what extent staying socially active helps prevent the onset of dementia.
To determine the relationship between loneliness at an advanced age and increased risk of Alzheimer's, the researchers analyzed 43 women and 36 men with a mean age of 76 years. All these patients were healthy and without any symptoms of Alzheimer's or other dementia.
The results of this research showed that those people who claimed to feel alone had high levels of this protein. Or what is the same, patients who presented amyloid in their cerebral cortex were 7.5% more likely to feel alone than the rest.
However, the researchers warn that this work only has to be taken as the invitation to carry out new studies in order to deepen the relationship between the development of Alzheimer's and the level of loneliness that patients have. patients of this type of dementia.
Damián Montero
